Memories
by tehedward
Summary: QW14!- Day 7: Quinn was smiling as she made her way over to stand by Santana and for a moment their eyes catch and that fairy princess smile of Quinn's is replaced by a tiny smirk, and it's all Santana can do to not crack up because she knew that Quinn was well aware of the effect she was having on Santana and loving every second of it.


**So this is my final submission to Quinntana week 2014. I would just like to take a second to say that it has been a lot of fun writing these stories and that I hope you guys have enjoyed reading them. I currently don't have any plans to revisit any of these stories, but that may change someday, you just never know. Anyway, thank you all for reading and here it is Day 7's story.**

**QW14- Day 7: Memories**

Santana wasn't going to cry, she refused to cry. It was her wedding day and she didn't have to cry if she didn't want to… but damn it, there she was, Quinn Fabray, soon to be Lopez walking down the aisle in a simple but beautiful white wedding gown, beaming as she stared up at Santana.

She would have to thank lady lips… Kurt, today she could say his name and not some kind of nickname, because he had helped Quinn pick the perfect dress. It was simple, no flowery designs, no bells and whistles, and very little lace. It was perfect for Quinn. Quinn was already so beautiful that in a case like this you didn't want to pick out a dress that distracted from her natural beauty. And Kurt and gone above and beyond in helping Quinn find that dress.

Santana hadn't gotten to even see Quinn's dress before now, let alone her in it until this very moment, and Santana could honestly say that she had never in her entire life seen anything as beautiful as Quinn was right now. Quinn was smiling as she made her way over to stand by Santana and for a moment their eyes catch and that fairy princess smile of Quinn's is replaced by a tiny smirk, and it's all Santana can do to not crack up because she knew that Quinn was well aware of the effect she was having on Santana and loving every second of it.

They may be in love but that didn't mean they weren't still both super competitive against each other. Normally Santana would have found a way to retaliate, but today… today Quinn could win. In fact today Santana wanted Quinn to win. This may have been their wedding, but for Santana, today was all about Quinn.

Santana loves that smirk and it brings back the memories of the first day they had met. They were 14 years old and at Sue Sylvester's Jr. Cheerio Camp.

_They had been running for what had felt like an eternity. Wind sprints across the field, non-stop, just back and forth. She and this blond chick were currently the only two left standing and it was getting to the point where even Santana had to admit that this girl was good._

_ Not as good as her, but still pretty good. Sweat poured down both their bodies as the harsh sun beat down on them. Santana looks to her right and glares at the girl, why won't she give up? If she would just quit they could both stop running, they could join the rest of the girls for a rest and she could get back to hanging out with her friend Brittany. But no, Blondie over there didn't show any signs of stopping._

_ Santana intensifies her glare when the girl turns her head to look at her as they both get into a runners start and wait for Coach Sylvester to blow her whistle. But instead of glaring back the blond girl smirks at her and Santana can honestly say that in her entire life she has never wanted to punch somebody as badly as she did right then._

_ "You do realize that we've now cemented our places at the top of the pack right?" the girl says conversationally, doing a remarkable job of covering up how exhausted she must be._

_ "What?" Santana falters, not expecting anything to come out of the girl's mouth other than some kind of smack talk. It's what she would have done had she been in a talking mood._

_ "You and I, we're the only two left running. Everyone else did just the bare minimum asked or quit soon after. You and I however, kept running, and now coach Sylvester is watching us. She's judging us to see which of the two of us she wants to lead."_

_ "Whatever." Santana scoffs but her eyes drift over to coach Sylvester and Santana can see the curious glint in the older woman's eyes._

_ "Now all you have to ask yourself is how badly do you want it? We're both wasted and you and I both know that we only have one more pass in the both of us." The blond girl continues to speak as if they are just having a pleasant conversation._

_ "Speak for yourself." Santana bluffs._

_ "Impressive, so I guess your lungs don't feel like they're on fire, your limbs don't feel like they each weigh a ton. Your feet aren't begging you, pleading with you to give them a rest. The muscles in your legs aren't so built up with acids that every single movement is a new experience in pain. Perhaps you really aren't dehydrated, your throat isn't dry and cracked, your mouth a barren desert-"_

_ "Shut up, shut up, shut up," Santana snarls, because the other girl was right. She felt like shit and there was nothing in the world she would like to do more right now than go lay down. To give her body a rest and maybe even drain the camp of its reserve of drinkable water. But there was no way she was going to lose to this other girl and there was no way in hell that she was going to let this blond bitch get to her._

_ "Hey." The blond girl says._

_ "Don't you ever stop talking?" Santana growls._

_ "I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm Quinn Fabray, future captain of the Cheerio's-"_

_ Santana scoffs, "Not likely." That was a position reserved for herself._

_ "Also, your shoes are untied." Santana felt like an idiot the moment she let her concentration slip and she looked down to see her perfectly tied laces. She felt so stupid when she heard Coach Sylvester's whistle blow and out of the corner of her eye she saw the blond girl, Quinn Fabray, take off. And she felt extremely pissed off that she had fallen for such a stupid ploy. But the fact of the matter was she had, and it was just enough to give the other girl the edge she needed and no matter how hard she pushed herself, she couldn't catch up to Quinn._

_ The blond girl's words echoing in her head. The weight in her limbs, the pain in her feet, the burning of her lungs and the ache in her thighs as she pushed herself to try and catch up to the other girl. But it was all for not, and in a matter of moments they had dashed across the field and back, Quinn beating her out by mere seconds. And then to add insult to injury Quinn got right back into a runners start._

_ That bitch! The was no way Quinn was going to be able to run another lap because there was no way in hell that Santana was able to and Quinn was not in any better shape than she was. Still not one to be outdone, Santana got into a runners stance right beside the blond girl. She wasn't going to lose, the other girl had to cheat to beat her and even if it killed her she was not going to let that stand._

_ Unfortunately Coach Sylvester had other ideas and called for a halt, blowing her whistle three times, signaling for all of the girls to line up in front of her._

_ "Good job Fabray."_

_ "Thank you Coach!" Quinn answers clearly and succinctly, almost like she was in boot camp. And Santana couldn't keep the sneer from crossing her face._

_ "Lopez!" Coach yells at her._

_ "Yes Coach!"_

_ "Wipe that look off your face, you could stand to learn a few things from Fabray, you got sloppy at the end."_

_ "Yes Coach, sorry Coach!" She responds while mentally wishing a very slow and painful death upon Quinn Fabray._

_ "And the rest of you, you aren't even worth bothering to mention! You're lazy, you're sloppy, and you all gave up to easy!"_

_ "Yes Coach, sorry Coach!" The rest of the squad shouts._

_ "You all make me sick just looking at you, get out of my sight." Coach Sylvester sneers and the squad of girls all break apart, grateful to be dismissed for lunch._

_ As the rest of the girls leave to go to the cafeteria Santana stays behind waiting for them to be alone so that she can confront the blond cheater. Santana gives her, her fiercest glare but all it does is cause the blond girl to arch her brow in a challenging manner._

_ "You cheated!" Santana snarls, "You knew you couldn't beat me fairly so you cheated!_

_ "Of course I cheated." Quinn laughs, admitting to it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and it throws Santana for a loop. She had been expecting the girl to put up some kind of fight, to deny the accusation, not just readily admit to it._

_ "What…?"_

_ "Look, I was exhausted and the fact was you are the only person who has kept up with me this entire time. Physically you and I are completely equal but socially you have the edge over me. You know most of these girls and they either like, fear, or respect you, or some combination of the three. Me, I'm the new girl and I have nothing to work with except for what I can earn here. Physically today's race could have gone either way and I guess we'll never know how things would have turned out, but I did have one advantage over you and so I used it."_

_ "What, that you're a liar and a cheat!? Some advantage." Santana scoffs._

_ "No, I wanted it more than you and I didn't care what it would take to win. You wanted to just out perform me, but me, I wanted to beat you. And now you have a choice to make."_

_ "Yeah, whether I break your nose or your legs first."_

_ "No, although you're welcome to try." Quinn challenges, her arms crossed in front of her in a cocky manner and that damnable eyebrow arched. "Your choice is, how do you want to handle things from here on out. You can either sulk and whine and plot your "revenge" _or…"

_"Or what?"_

_ "Or you can join me for lunch and realize that by teaming up with me, you and I will literally own that squad. That between the two of us there is nobody who could challenge our position at the top of the food chain in the most powerful group in school. Together we could make our high school lives a walk in the park." At this point Quinn holds her hand out to Santana and she has to admit she likes the girl's style. It was smart, it was calculating, and it had a certain flare to it that Santana could admire. Two sophomore girl's running the Cheerios… it definitely had some possibilities._

_ After a moment of considering it she makes her decision and reaches out and takes Quinn's hand and shakes it. "Quinn Fabray, I'm Santana Lopez." Here Santana smirks. "I'll take you up on your offer, but just realize one thing. I'm going to get you back for this."_

_ Quinn returns the look. "Good, I'd hate to think you would give up after just one loss. And just know that every time you try to beat me, I'll win. I've got your number Lopez."_

_ "Bitch."_

_ "I believe that's my line." And with that the two girl's make their way to the cafeteria._

It had been the start of a very weird, sometimes volatile, and most definitely, the greatest friendship that Santana had ever had. Sure they had had their ups and downs but when it came to the big stuff, the important things, they were loyal to each other.

Santana's smile widens when she sees Quinn's smirk soften into a real smile, and not her fake real smile, the one that she used when they were out with friends or in public, but her real one. The one that she used when it was just the two of them, the smile that was for Santana only. She can remember the first time that she had seen that smile.

_"What do I do Quinn!? I can't… how can… I don't want this!" Santana cries, they are currently in Quinn's room, both of her parents are out right now so it was just the two of them. Santana was currently pacing the room while Quinn sat on her bed._

_ "Calm down San, it's going to be okay."_

_ "No it's not!" Santana screams at her, "I'm gay, I'm a freak! There is something wrong with me!"_

_ Quinn's eyes harden and she jumps up from her seat on her bed and goes over to Santana and forcefully grabs her by the arms and holds her still while she looks Santana right in the eyes._

_ "There is nothing wrong with you." Quinn says firmly._

_ "But I-"_

_ "No buts, there is nothing wrong with you, you are not a freak do you hear me? You are Santana Lopez the most amazing, beautiful, pain in my ass, best friend that I have ever had."_

_ "Best friend?" Santana questions, it seemed silly to question it really. I mean she was just realizing that she was gay and the first thing she had done was seek out Quinn, whenever something big was happening in their lives they always turned to each other. They could talk to each other about anything and if it was truly important they could trust each other. But they had never really defined their relationship before._

_ "Yes you doof, best friend. And as for you being gay well, so what? That's a part of who you are, you were born that way and while the hicks in this town may look down on it, you and I both know that there is nothing wrong with you."_

_ "But what about my parents and my abuela and… and the church and… and… school?"_

_ "Look your parents are cool, they're certainly not like my parents, I think that no matter what they're going to love you. And as for your abuela… who knows, she might just surprise you."_

_ "And what about church and school?" Santana asks meekly._

_ "As far as God and church go, that's for you to decide. Your relationship with God is just that, yours. Only you can decided how you think he feels about it. Church is just a place where we can go to surround ourselves with people who hold similar beliefs and to help reaffirm our faith, but ultimately your relationship with God is between you and him, not you to the church and then to him. And I can tell you right now, he loves you."_

_ "How can you be so sure?" Santana says, as she starts to cry softly. Quinn wraps her arms around Santana in a hug, they were never all that touchy feely with each other but right now Quinn's hug was the only thing holding her together._

"_Because I love you and his love is supposed to be infinitely greater than ours, more than we can possibly understand, so of course he loves you. Besides, you're a very a lovable person… when you're not being a bitch." Quinn teases her gently and it has the desired effect of drawing out a small laugh._

"_And school?" Santana asks, and she can feel Quinn's shoulders sag. "Unfortunately in this town, I think that's were your problems are going to come from. You're just going to have to decide if you're ready to come out or not."_

"_I can't… not yet… I… I…"_

"_Shhh, it's okay, I understand and so will Brittany." Quinn says soothingly as she strokes Santana's hair as she continues to hold Santana._

"_Who said anything about Brittany?" Santana asks nervously._

"_She's who you're crushing on right?" Quinn asks confused, "or did I miss something, I thought you liked her?"_

"_I… I… do but how did you know? Am I that obvious?" Santana asks, eyes wide with fear. She had thought she had been careful, thought she had hidden her feelings really well but if Quinn knew about her crush then who else did?_

"_No you're not obvious, I just know you really well. You… you're… I don't know, different I guess, around her. At least to me you are, I guess I could just tell, but I wouldn't worry." Quinn reassures her._

"_Maybe…"_

"_What I would worry about is what are you going to say to Brittany, I mean you guys have been friends for a long time? Does she feel the same way, have you asked her out, are you going to ask her out?"_

"_Yeah… she… she does, like me that is. That's kind of what freaked me out today. Just looking and not really doing anything about it was fine… but then she pulled me aside today and said that she liked me and then she asked if I wanted to kiss and I…"_

"_Did you guys kiss?"_

"_No I… I kind of freaked out and ran straight here… Oh God, what if I ruined it, what if I-"_

"_Hey it's going to be fine, really. Why don't you give her a call and ask her to meet with you? You guys can talk it out and decided on what you want to do, if anything." Quinn suggests._

"_Yeah… I guess. But…" Santana looks up at Quinn her eyes wide and scared, she had never been this vulnerable before, she had never been in love before and she had no idea what to do. "Quinn, what do I do, what do I say?"_

_Quinn smiles at her and while Santana had obviously seen her friend smile before something about this one was different. It was softer, more tender and caring than the one that she usually had. Over the years Santana would come to recognize it as Quinn's real smile. The one she had when she wanted you to know that she cared about you and that you were important to her. That she felt safe around you and that she was letting her guard down._

Brittany had been her first crush and she had even been in love with the other girl, but the timing hadn't been right and they had both wanted different things out of their relationship. Their break-up had been loud and angry and it had all but ended their friendship.

It was only just recently that either of them had made overtures to try and repair the damage that had been done. But now was not the time to be thinking about Brittany, right now she should be thinking about the goddess who had just taken her place across from Santana.

Santana reaches over and takes Quinn's hands gently in her own. "You look beautiful."

"Almost as pretty as you."

Quinn and Santana lean forward to kiss but are interrupted by a polite cough.

"Ahem." The preacher interrupts, an amused smile on his face, "I believe that part comes after the vows." This causes a light laughter to pass through the assembled guests and both Santana and Quinn duck their heads in embarrassment with large sheepish grins on their pink tinged faces. Santana's eyes lift up and land on Quinn's lips as she bites her lower lip in that adorable way of hers.

She is mesmerized by the way Quinn's teeth nibble at her plump lower lip. She thinks about the way it felt against her own when they kissed, the ways she tasted. The tiny little moan that Quinn did when Santana kissed her and as she's thinking of Quinn's lips her mind wanders to the memory of their first kiss.

"_Hey San, I thought we agreed no more hospitals?" Quinn asks softly as she enters Santana's hospital room._

"_I believe the agreement was no more hospital visits for you. Me well…" Santana says, referencing a conversation they had had after Quinn's car accident. She shrugs her shoulders weakly but winces in pain before pushing through it so she can smile up at Quinn. "I'm sorry about our date tomorrow, I was really looking forward to it." Santana's weakened voice floats through the air._

"_You're not getting out of our date that easy, we'll just reschedule, it's no big deal." Quinn says as she takes a seat on the edge of Santana's bed and gently moves Santana's bangs to the side, her face marred with a worried frown. "What happened?" She asks, her eyes glossing over with tears._

"_Oh it's completely stupid and my fault, I got reckless. I should have waited for my partner but… I don't know I thought I had him but I didn't see the gun in time. It's just my shoulder and side though. It's nothing too serious." Santana tries to comfort her best friend… possible girlfriend?_

"_You were shot twice, I call that pretty serious."_

"_Meh, it's a hazard of the job." Santana tries to shrug it off like it's no big deal. But the truth was she was scared. Being a cop in New York City was definitely not the safest of occupations and this wasn't the first time she had been shot at but it was the definitely the first time she had been hit._

"_Don't-" Quinn stops herself and closes her eyes tightly and the tears begin to fall. "Don't play this off as no big deal. It is a big deal. You were hurt, you were shot… a person shot you and… and… I… when I got that call I have never been so scared in my entire life."_

_Quinn was Santana's main emergency contact here in New York followed by Rachel and Kurt who both also lived in the city. She and Quinn had always had a connection but as time had progressed, and especially this last year when they got an apartment together as roommates, that connection had begun to blossom and grow into something more. It was currently Friday night and tomorrow was supposed to be their very first official date. It didn't look like that was going to happen now though._

"_You're right… I remember how scared I was when I heard about your accident and I know I wouldn't have appreciated you joking about it, but I promise you I'm going to be fine, really. No permanent damage and I'll have two cool scars from it, chicks dig scars right?" Santana asks smiling up at Quinn as she grasps one of Quinn's hands in her own and squeezes it gently._

"_Chicks dig their girlfriends coming home safely every night."_

"_Girlfriend huh? We haven't even gone out on our first date yet." Santana questions her, but she definitely isn't opposed to the idea._

"_Shut up." Quinn says rolling her eyes, before she leans down and kisses Santana. And Santana can say without a shadow of a doubt that it was the greatest kiss she had ever had. It was soft and tender with an undercurrent of desire that if Santana wasn't currently lying in a hospital bed would have probably lead to more than just kissing on her end._

_It was like fireworks. She hadn't thought it was possible for a kiss to be that amazing. She had kissed… she wouldn't say a whole bunch of people before, but definitely her fair share and while a lot of them had been nice, none of them had ever been like this. Not even Brittany, who had been her most serious relationship to date, had ever gotten this kind of reaction out of her from just a kiss. But eventually all good things must come to an end and a small moan escaped Santana as Quinn pulled away from the kiss._

_Santana's eyes flutter open. "Wow." She gasps softly._

"_Damn right wow." Quinn teases before switching to a more serious attitude. "And if you ever want to experience "wow" again you had better be more careful in the future. I know how much you love your job and while I wish you would love a job that is less dangerous, I would never ask you to give it up. So this is me asking you to be careful, this is me asking you to remember that kiss every time you are about to do something needlessly reckless, like say… chasing down a bad guy down a dark alley without your partner nearby? I want you to remember that kiss, and I want you to remember that you won't get any more if you're not careful."_

Santana had made a quick and full recovery and had been back to work in no time. She had even made detective since then, and even though she had to take risks since then, she was never as reckless as she had been that day. She had a girlfriend to go home to, one whom she loved more than anything else in the world and who worried about her constantly. And after today it wouldn't be a girlfriend to go home to, it would be a wife. And that thought brings an even bigger smile to her face, if that were even physically possible.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today-"


End file.
